News/Press

Shapiro Teams up with Temple University for Career Opportunities

April 18, 2012

Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc., a 96-year old Customhouse broker and freight forwarder, teams up with the Fox School of Business at Temple University for career opportunities.

Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc., a 96-year old Customhouse broker and freight forwarder, has recently been featured in the Fox School of Business’ newsletter highlighting its successful collaboration with the university in bringing fresh talent to support its growth.

Temple University was founded in 1884 and boasts a total student body of 39,000. Its vibrant main campus is located in Philadelphia and includes its Health Sciences Center, with satellite campuses in Center City, Ambler, Fort Washington, and Harrisburg. Its Fox School of Business was established in 1918 and is the largest, most comprehensive business school in the greater Philadelphia region, and among the largest in the world with nearly 6,500 students, 175 full-time faculty and more than 59,000 alumni. Fox’s Undergraduate Business Program is ranked in the top 55 in the U.S. while its International Business Undergraduate Programs are within the top 10 of the nation, according to US News & World Report Shapiro’s Philadelphia office began tapping into this rich recruiting resource approximately 14 years ago to fill internship opportunities for current students and full-time positions for new graduates. Marina Tasiopoulos, who is now the Regional Manager for the company’s New York and Philadelphia offices, was one of the first Temple students to join Shapiro, back in 1997. On average, Shapiro hosts two or three Temple student interns a semester, several of whom have stayed on after graduation to become full-time employees. The company currently has three other Temple graduates in import and management positions within its Philadelphia branch, in addition to three student interns.

This partnership has steadily developed over the years due to close collaboration between Richard Lucas, Shapiro’s Recruiting Manager, and Gloria Angel, Fox’s Assistant Director of International Programs (CIBER) plus Megan Panaccio, Director – Corporate Relations Center for Student Professional Development (CSPD). Recently, Lucas presented at an International Business Association meeting to give students a clear picture of what employers are looking for and a realistic perspective on day-to-day operations. “Fox students know the real world,” Lucas says. “They’ve worked. They’ve held internships. They already understand customer service. They’ve already adapted to working under the pressure of real-world transactions.

Not everyone is built for the logistics industry, however. Shapiro consistently looks to build the bench, its future generation, by finding people that can handle the challenges of this ever-changing, dynamic industry and thrive. “Our employees master some of the most complex transactions in the world: United States imports and exports,” Lucas said. “If you are fascinated by international business – how companies are run, how regulations influence trade, how commodities are actually moved – if you’re excited by global trade, international supply chain logistics, ocean cargo, airlines and trucks, you’ll fit in at Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc.” And, so far, Fox students have been fitting quite well.